“A theme park?”, I asked my guide as we strolled around Melbourne. Cartoon characters and wild, adrenaline-inducing rides immediately sprang to mind. “Well, no”, she replied, “it’s more like an open-air museum. If you’re interested in history, you’ll love it there”. It was the first of several times that day that a local recommended a […]

Melbourne is Australia’s second-largest city and capital of the state of Victoria. The second you arrive in Melbourne, you’ll immediately be swept off your feet by its infectious energy; at times brazen, often funky but always omnipresent. You can’t miss it! On my previous visit in 2008, I remarked: Melbourne is a city with aspirations […]

2013 was an incredible travel year for me. If I counted correctly, I visited 20 countries across six continents. More importantly, I had the opportunity to experience some of the most amazing places (and food!) and meet some truly inspiring people along the way. Here are some of my favourite travel moments in photos from […]

This is the second of a two-part series about my solo road trip around Victoria, Australia. Read Part One (if you haven’t already). Mingling with the local wildlife I left Daylesford Springs for the 45-minute drive to Ballarat, a town famous as the ‘Gateway to Victoria’s Goldfields’. It was a lovely drive past verdant, undulating […]

It hadn’t occurred to me before but it wasn’t until I was about to leave for Australia that I realised I was about to embark on my first solo road trip EVER! I’ve done many road trips before but never alone. I looked forward to lots of ‘me-time’ in the car but who was going […]

“Good morning Mr. Jenkins! Your suite is ready.” I almost danced around with joy when I heard those magic words. It was 10am and I’d just arrived at The Lyall after a gruelling 30+ hour journey from Amsterdam to Melbourne and all I wanted to do was sleep. I looked around as the receptionist completed […]

My next trip takes me to Victoria, Australia. In fact, I’m already here… in Melbourne! I arrived yesterday after a 34-hour journey that took me from Amsterdam via London and Dubai and through to Melbourne with Royal Brunei Airlines. I arrived surprisingly fresh – there’s something to be said about booze-free flights! And my J-Pillow […]

Aisle or window? That’s a question I’m sure many of us are familiar with. I’m a big fan of window seats – you’ll know why if you’ve seen any of my Plane Views posts! Whether you’re an aisle or a window person, here are ten airports you’ll want to book a window seat for (arriving, […]

As a kid, I would spend hours studying my geographic encyclopedias. I memorised all the data I could find, like the size of each country, its population and its capital city and used this to challenge my friends at school to a game of “Name The Capital”. There was one guy at school, Raymond, whom […]

This time three years ago, I was roaming around South America, having the time of my life on my first solo round-the-world trip. After ten years of focusing on my career, this trip certainly opened my eyes to the world outside my comfy ‘bubble’. I learned to value the relationships I have with my family […]